Note: This damage is calculated by (mana burnt X 0.6). It can be reduced by Vanguard. Magic immunity will block it. This makes AM one of the highest damage dealer (without any spell) at level 7. Downside is, getting any orb will over ride this.

Note: A hero always has 25% spell damage reduction. This skill is an addition to that. You can actually become a tank of sort with this skill leveled up. Total magical damage reductions at level 4 of this skill is a whooping 58.75%.

Note: A nightmare for the spell casters all game long, especially after level 16. Actual damage done are (.6/.85/1.1 X .75) times of missing mana point. Also has mini stun to go with the damage. The damage is almost instantaneous. Damage is calculated for primary target, but dealt to all enimies in the area.
Against Avatar: Stuns, but no damage.
Against Linken's: Damages, but no stun.

Mana Break and Blink are maxed out to take full advantage of chase/escape and extra damage of mana burn. The only thing we need to decide is whether to take the first level of shield. This depends on the hero you are laning with and the heroes the opponent team has.

Exception may be needed if you are laning against a very strong nuking lane. In that case, you will not need the extra levels of blink to chase..it is only for escaping. I would instead invest on extra levels of shield.

Special note: After the recent changes to the Anti Mage, he has been given a big buff in terms of his ultimate. His starting health and armor plus base damage is improved a bit. But his strength has been nerfed a lot, making him more item depended in my opinion. I would still follow my philosophy of playing him, but there is an essential core item now. We also need to look at the slight buff in the shield to find him a better position in the team.

Item Build:

People have their own ways of playing with the Anti Mage. So, there are different item builds to be seen in different games and levels. Before you decide on an item build, you need to decide what is your role in your team. I always try to be the carry with AM. But at the same time, we need to remember the extra damage of mana break that grants Magina a substantial damage at around level 7-11. Along with that, you need to farm, both waves and neutrals, to keep in par with the carry of the other team in terms of raw damage. You also need the ability to solo push the side lanes to get some quick gold and breathing space to your team mates, who are either ganking or holding fort in mid lane. So, you need items to augment your damage, increase your attack speed, to let you farm neutrals and waves without loosing HP, and at the same time, push fast down a side lane. Then again, there is a whole new dimension that is opened to Magina by some nerfs and buffs to items and his skills. The more he can stay in the battle field and abosorb damage, especially magical, the more susceptible they become of a devastating mana void. Keeping these in mind, my build is:

The 2 Wraiths are for improving your early game damage potential. Boots is a no-brainer. Ring of Health and Stout Shield are for the Vanguard that you are going to build for the early game advantage. Although being quite modest in cost, these can make AM a considerable force in small battles, especially after you make your treads (Agility). At the same time, it gives you the power to stay in the lane and even farm neutrals.

Finish your Vanguard, Yasha and Treads fast. You need to return home (or to secret shop) thrice with around 2100 gold to get the 3 items. You should get them according to the flow of the game. After you get your yasha, change your treads to strength. If things are bit tough to handle try to hang back in team fights a bit more than in normal cases. These items, along with BKB, should be enough to see-off the game...

12 agility and 6 strength early game is quite good for a hero like Anti Mage. The extra mana pool will allow to get the extra blink you need so often.

2.

For Magina, there is actually no need for Travel unless it is very late. But the attack speed, move speed and the extra 10 agility/strength are all welcome!

3.
The RoH is bought early game to give you much needed regeneration to stay and farm in your lane. At the same time, the stout shield also gives you some advantage. To completet the Vanguard is a no-brainer after that. This item, with the buffs that it received, has become a core for the daring Magina. You can farm the neutrals with ease, tank for the primary carry, digest a bit of physical punishment to go along with your magical tanking skills. The more you can stay in the battle, the more you can drain the mana of the frail caster to setup a devastating Void for the knock out punch.

6. /

Manta Style is currently the best item for Magina. You will get 3 blade weilding Magina quickly bringing down the manapool and health of a hero, as if 1 was not enough!! And to add to that, Yasha itself is a great item, and so is the ultimate orb needed for the build up.

7.

You need this, period. There will be a time when you can't afford to wait for the initiators of your team to go in first. You will need this item dearly..end of story.

Item Extension:

1. /

The 55% attack speed increase for 2100 gold is too juicy to pass over for a hero like AM. And you can even upgrade it to Assault to fatten him up!! My preferred 'first' luxury item. Those who want to theory craft a ot and argue about the mana images, can save a bit more to get the Eagle Horn. But I still prefer the good old hyper, call me nostalgic!

2.

My preferred secondary item of survival. This gives you 16% lifesteal and 15% damage increase aura..plus the mana regen and armor aura. Costs only 2075, made of small items. You can farm the neutrals and push one lane with ease. And come late game, you will surely need this item to go toe-to-toe with the opponents late game carry. Remember, the extra damage from mana break can also be leeched!

Why Not...?

1. Hood of Defiance: I do not waste 2400+ gold on 13.5% spell damage block unless the opponent has 3-4 heavy damage nukers with area spells.

2. Butterfly: I only get Eagle Horn instead of Hyper Stone if I am doing really really well...If the opponents have more damage dealers than caster, you might want to skip BKB and get a Butterfly as well.

3. MKB/Buriza: I chose to get Battle Fury as my main damage item, so no place for these. But there are games where you may have to have an MKB instead of the late Heart.

At the moment, I don't think discussion about other items are necessary. If the need arises, they will be added.

Gameplay:

Being a perfect Magina is not an easy task. He is probably the toughest hero to master in DotA. Keeping that in mind, with proceed with our game play.

In early game (lvl 1-7), Magina is very weak. Because, he has nearly zero lane control ability. One way to have him in a moderate lane is to put him with a very good lane controller. For example, Viper, NA, Leshrac or a range hero with ranged stun. Another way is to have him lane with a baby-sitter, like Warlock or Dazzle. The lane might still be weak, but at least you won't die if you play conservatively. If the match is a serious one, you can face very tough heroes. Creeping earnestly is not a good idea. Always try to land a one-hit-creep-gold shot. Do not get too adventurous. Get the defensive lane, stay near your tower. But if you see that the opposing lane is not so furious, ask your lane partner to be aggressive, while you farm and occasionally blink-break. Try to do a few creep pulls if your creep wave advances too far forward. Keep a lookout for the runes. AM with level 3 mana break with haste is extremely dangerous.

After you get your initial items, you can be more courageous. Try to set up a gank or two with the help of your team mates. Get your stunners in first, then follow up. It is better to run in and hit if you don't have your blink maxed out. You need your blink to get out if things get nasty. Remember, you are not supposed to die in a gank initiated by your team. You may earn less gold than other heroes, but you should loose a lot less. Try to be the last one to enter a team battle. Let the stunners of the opposing team use a few of their stuns before you go in. It is almost always better to flank your enemies, while your team mates take them head on. At this time of the game, it is better to target the spell casters first, and let your casters target their DPS hero. Remember, timing is the key.

Come late game, if everything goes according to plan, you should be a force to be reckoned with. Always try to push a free side lane. If you see any single enemy hero in the map near by, finish him off. Do not mess up with the timing of your void. Remember, it also has a mini stun and can be the decisive factor in close encounters. Be mindful of the insane amount of damage you can give if you land it on fat-old-manaless-caster. After you have your BKB, you can go for team pushes and get as many hero as possible during that 5 (9) second period. The more you stay free from disables, the more damage you can do. You can directly target the DPS heroes with the help of a stunner of your own team. Always take out the most dangerous hero of the enemy first. One advantage you have in battles is that you can engage and dis-engage in the blink of an eye. But also keep in mind of the insane amount of damage you can do to a cluster of enemies sticking together if the spell caster with an obscenely large mana pool has 0 mana!

Advanced Tactics:

1. Blink-Break

This is your bread and butter tactics for all game long. Whenever you think that the enemy hero has nearly enough mana to land a nuke, and you are not going to die with the stunt, blink in and get few hit at him/her to burn away mana and life as well. Please do not try this in a lane where there are 2 stunners/disablers and have their spells ready.... You will find yourself using it many times to chase a hero for a kill. Try to anticipate and blink just in front, so that the hero stops moving for a fraction of a second, and you can land an extra hit.

Please remember, the enemy will try to anticipate your blink and move in another direction to waste it. So, apply your brain and mind as well. Study each players characteristic.

2. Blink-Block

I hear many Magina player say this repeatedly, "The enemy hero is killing my team mate, but I am a Magina, what can I do? Let him die, sigh..". This is all crap. You can try blocking the enemy hero by blinking right in front of him, giving your team mate an extra second to run away. And in that period, you can hit away at the enemy, so that he HAS to take notice of you. The moment he does, you can blink away to safety as well!!

3. Blink-Dodge

This is one the most fun part of playing with Magina. You can dodge any projectile stun or spell coming towards you by blinking just when it is about to hit you. Watch the Big Bad Lheoric cry when you dodge the stormbolt...

With alert mind and finger, you can even dodge assassinate of Sniper!! But dodging is always risky business. Avoid it if possible.

4. Blink-Escape

Anti Mage is the Houdini of DotA. If you know the paths of the map well, it is impossible to catch you. Because even if the enemy hero has higher movement speed, you can blink to places where it will take him ages to reach. Blink on a valley, or blink behind trees, blink down a slope from where you came from, the possibilities are limitless!

Just a word of caution though, do not blink from 1 hero and blink into the other 4, life can get hazardous... Map awareness is key to a quick escape.

Pointers:

1. Last hit creeping and denying is the way to go.
2. Always try to get the defensive lane so the engagements early game are near your tower.
3. Only solo if the opponent solo is also melee or techies or a certified noob.
4. Try to do creep pulls in your lane. It will keep the battle near your towers.
5. Your priority early game is to level up and not dying.
6. Your team should have at least 2-3 stunners with 1 area disable for you to be effective.
7. A pesky caster/disabler like Lion or Rhasta can become a nightmare if you underestimate him.
8. Always be alert, there is not even a single second to idle around with AM.
9. Remember, timing is the key!

This was a game played in Sniper. I follow my normal item build, in spite of being dominated in bottom lane by Morphling and Tidehunter. I play a rather adventurous and sometimes stupid game. Die a lot. We got behind 10-15 kills in the starting and middle part of the game, but slowly claw back.

Of all the heroes in DotA, I love the Anti Mage most. To win with AM while playing against quality opponents is the most satisfying feeling I feel during gaming.

The skill builds and item builds are my own way of playing. There might be 99 other way of playing with Magina, and they all might be better than mine... So you can criticize, complain and do what not. I shall try to improve the guide from time to time. If I am convinced and start playing a bit different, I shall change my guide as well.

Thanks to the DotA community of Bangladesh for giving me some wonderful time playing DotA. And thanks to all the readers. Keep owning (or being owned..)!

PS: I borrowed 3 fotos from Baconzilla's guide from DP. So thanks goes to him as well. If you have time please visit his guide here

Re: Magina, The Anti Mage: Sin Eater's way of owning!

This is what you call an early game tank and late game damage dealer build. To be precise, you have 3 defensive items...Vanguard, Hood and Linken's....In recent high level matches, the first 2 items are seen often. But in these games, the style of play you see doesn't suit mine.

Follow the link I have given at the bottom of my guide, and you should see a similar build.

Re: Magina, The Anti Mage: Sin Eater's way of owning!

Re: Magina, The Anti Mage: Sin Eater's way of owning!

A wonderful guide. Thnx to <nfs>Sineater for all his hard work.
Your given item build is ok. But as you said.. AM can be played in variety of ways. I think it would be better if u include some other possible builds.. it will be very helpful for newer players.
My personal build goes like this.
Power treads( Duh!!!)
Vladimirs offering( Lifesteal 4 taking down tanks)
Yasha ( Decent agi and bonus ms. This small boost in ms allows u to do the "Run and Bash" thing )
Basher( Perfect for taking high DPS heroes. Cant kill me if u cant hit me)
Butterfly( When AM gets this along with the above items...he can take down about 80 out of 95 heroes in dota in a 1v1 even fight )
1 space 4 TP, and if the game goes longer anything from buriza to tarrasqe.

I have read many AM guides, those also included these strategies like "Blink and break" "Blink Dodge" "Noob in disguise" "Blink block" etc. But u added new elements to these and hats off to the presentation.
In a word....a guide to recommend.